The Relationship Between Attitude Dimension, Social Influence and Self-Efficacy on Behavioural Intention to Consume Functional Food among Malaysian

Abstract

This study is intended to minimize the gap in the literature and develop more understanding concerning the issue of unhealthy consumption behaviour among Malaysians which indeed leads to the prevalence of obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Many studies had scientifically proven that functional foods, with fortified nutritional values could help prevent the risks of NCDs and improve overall health. Therefore, this study is aimed to investigate the relationship between antecedent factors of attitude dimensions (i.e., reward, necessity, confidence and safety), social influence and self-efficacy on behavioural intention to consume functional foods among Malaysians. A survey was conducted with a sample of 452 respondents by using the self-administered questionnaire. The results revealed that only reward, self-efficacy and necessity factors significantly influence consumer-behavioural intention to consume functional foods. On the other hand, confidence, safety and social influence factors have no significant bearing on consumer-behavioural intention. The results from this study can shed further light on functional foods consumption behaviour and will be valuable for health food industry marketers in formulating effective marketing communication strategies to facilitate favourable attitudinal change towards healthy foods.